Recap: Hornets 123, Cavs 112 (the Fourth Quarter Wall)

The Cavs put in a good first half of basketball, but couldn’t put together a good game, losing to the Charlotte Hornets 123-112. The Cavs’ defense was a sieve for the second game in a row in spite of the big three lineup, and tonight’s offense was shell of what is was against the Grizzlies in the opener. Let’s dive in with the takeaways…

1. Turnovers and cold shooting from three doom the offense

The Cavs’ offensive rating for tonight was an unacceptable 105.7, with 18 turnovers and 29.0% shooting from three. The turnovers and threejacking kept the Cavs from being competitive in this game. It was a far cry from the well oiled machine in Memphis. Ricky Rubio and Collin Sexton, while producing some good offense at times, failed to truly involve the front court guys and generate good team offense. Rubio and Young Bull’s turnovers at the beginning of the fourth quarter were the final nails in the coffin. Darius Garland’s late scratch due to an ankle injury suffered in Memphis proved to be a major obstacle to overcome. The bench offensive unit led by Kevin Pangos struggled to get any offense going. It’s also fair to wonder how much the bench unit is missing the shooting of Dean Wade and Dylan Windler in the early going.

2. Defense and rebounding a problem again

The Cavs were out-rebounded by double digits for the second straight game 46-36, a worrisome development considering the starting lineup including three seven footers in Lauri Markkanen, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was also quick to point out the lack of contributions from the back court players too. Starting Lauri Markkanen at the three was supposed to help the defense and rebounding, and it’s really done neither. The Cavs posted another terrible defensive rating, with a 116.0. But, in spite of the poor defense and rebounding, Markkanen has elevated the team’s offense, with the Cavs posting a 111.0 offensive rating while Markkanen’s on the court in the first two games. It’s an unfortunate reality that the Cavs’ lack of chemistry is really showing on the defensive end.

3. No rest for the weary

The Cavs had better ice up tonight, because they have a back to back with the mighty impressive Atlanta Hawks, who just completely dismantled the Dallas Mavericks on national TV. It will be the Cavs’ final home game of October, with a brutal road trip against a slew of title contenders (Denver, both L.A. teams, Phoenix) waiting for their arrival.

4. Highlight of the night

Enjoy this one, courtesy of Jarrett Allen:

JARRETT ALLEN WITH AN EARLY DUNK OF THE SEASON CANDIDATE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/nmfQDX3Izt

— Hoop Mixes (@TheHoopsMixes) October 22, 2021

Nate’s Notes:

Rubio really seemed to sputter to start of the fourth quarter, as did Allen. While the Cavs led the first half 59-54, it was clear that the Hornets were sandbagging. Gordon Hayward hardly had his name called in the first quarter. I had to check the names to see if he was in. The second half: 14 points and six dimes in 17 minutes. Similarly, Miles Bridges dropped 19. Cleveland seemed to not deal with the success of the first half well.

Six turnovers by Cleveland in their first eight possessions to start the fourth fueled a 17-4 run in 3.5 minutes from which the Cavs could never recover. Most of these turnovers were due to Rubio throwing blind passes and playing out of control. He had clearly hit the wall, and fatigue from an unexpected start had fueled his mental mistakes.

Collin Sexton was great on offense (until he wasn’t): 33 points on 21 shots in 34 minutes. He did a bit of everything: floaters in the half court, mid-rangers, a nifty behind-the back dribbles for a layup in transition, and then, he, like the rest of the Cavs started to rush when they were pushing the car back to pit road in the fourth, and he reverted to trying to do too much.

What seemed like a position of strength in the early season has turned into a position of weakness again, as a lack of lead guard depth was evident when Garland scratched. Kevin Pangos got some burn in the second quarter and seemed completely overmatched. He’s just too small against a team like Charlotte. I need to watch the film, but the place to play him was against the similarly tiny (and much stronger) Ish Smith. Pangos put up an impressive 0-fer with a foul in five minutes.

Isaac Okoro plays too afraid on offense. He has got to stop turning down shots in the flow of the offense, and he has to play with confidence. The coaching staff has jerked his role around, but he really ought to be starting at the two or the three, and the Cavs should just take their lumps with him learning to be a playmaker. That’s easy to say from here, but Ice was -21 in his 25 minutes Friday. But the Cavs have to have to have to get some wings in the game against teams like this. They’re giving themselves no shot.

Cedi Osman is a wing, and frankly looked like one of the Cavs’ best three players in his 17 minutes: flashing pretty dimes and attacking the basket and in transition on his way to nine points and a team high +4. Dean Wade, who’s also supposed to be a wing, played five minutes, hit a three and peaced out. These five minute burns do no one any good.

But the elephant in the room is the fact that Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen lineups can’t defend. Kev was a rebound machine in the first half, then when Charlotte upped the intensity in the second half, completely fell apart, as Charlotte had so many second half opportunities. He looked completely outclassed against Charlotte’s collection of six-foot-seven muscled utility knives. Frankly? I’d sit Kev on the back-to-back and give his minutes to Stevens, who will at least defend, and I bet if you told him to go get 10 rebounds, he would. The rest of this is on the tower city lineup, who have to get more than 14 combined rebounds in 83 minutes.

It makes me wonder if the Cavs are just playing too fast, and just running out of gas in the second half. Of course, they’re playing fast due to the lack of creativity in the half court offense, making the Cavs easy to defend. But their conditioning has to catch up. Until then, Bickerstaff can’t let them suffer through brutal turnover stretches without burning timeouts to refuel. There is absolutely no point in saving timeouts for a crunch time that may never come because your team is making fatigue mistakes.

The Tower City lineup seems doomed, and I wonder if Cleveland waves the white flag. I’d think we’d see Okoro in the starting lineup and more Lamar Stevens against a wing heavy team like Atlanta. Unfortunately, with a brutal road trip coming, the mood of this team could turn sour quickly as questions will mount over whether J.B. Bickerstaff is getting the most out of this oddly assembled team, and the odds of a win in October look low. It’s a shame, because Allen and Mobley, rebounding aside, have looked like an unbelievably tantalizing pair, with jaw dropping moments and great all-around games both nights. If the Cavs don’t want a new skipper, they’re going to play hard enough to disprove my conclusion that J.B. Bickerstaff just isn’t a very good game coach.